In hydrocarbon drilling operations, a flapper valve may be installed in a tubular substructure above the drill bit. The flapper valve controls back pressure during drilling operations by permitting fluid (e.g., mud) flow in one direction while preventing fluid flow in the other direction. The flapper valve consists of a disc-shaped valve cover that is housed in a valve body. The valve cover is hinged to the valve body with a force applied to bias the valve cover to the closed position. During normal drilling operations, fluid flow causes the valve cover to open; however, when flow stops or is reversed, the spring force biases the valve cover closed.
Wireline logging employs one or more logging tools that are suspended on a cable and run through the drilling tubulars, including the flapper valve. The spring force applied to the flapper valve cover causes the face or the edge of the valve cover to contact the logging tools as they pass through the valve. As a result of this contact, the valve cover may catch in a tool upset when retrieving the tool back through the valve and effectively wedge the tool against the valve body, resulting in the tool getting stuck downhole. This can cause delay and additional costs from retrieving and repairing the stuck logging tool.